Thursday, October 15, 2009

Next June, Toy Story 3 will hit theaters. I’m not sure why I’m particularly surprised. I guess I just assumed Pixar had inoculated themselves against sequelphilia (an especially deadly disease in the realm of children’s movies) with their relentless onslaught of extremely watchable, original films.

I’ve watched the trailer, and my interest is piqued. It looks as if Pixar hasn’t abandoned the original’s art style despite significant technological advances in the past few years (see Wall-E’s near-photorealistic Earth). And all of the memorable characters are back – including the Potato Heads, characters based on a toy I’m not even sure kids know about anymore what with their exploring Doras and airbending Avatars.

The movie will follow the toys as they try to find a new home when their owner (Andy)packs up and heads off to college. The trailer shows a montage of Andy playing with his favorite toys, aging with each cut, while Randy Newman croons in the background. Watching Woody and Buzz maintain their plastic smiles in the face of obsolescence is soul-crushing. And let’s not forget that Pixar has a proven track record as masters of the Soul-Crushing Montage.